Emily Manninger:

“Thank you, Lexx. I will love you forever.”

Alexander Manninger was torn from his family’s life by a local train.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Markus Tschepp, Sepp Pail, Krone KREATIV)

These words go straight to the heart. Emily Manninger bid farewell to Alex in an emotional post, making it clear just how deep the pain of her loss runs. The former professional soccer player died on Thursday following a tragic accident at a railroad crossing in Nußdorf (Salzburg) ...

“I cannot put into words the unimaginable pain I feel,” Emily Manninger wrote in an emotional Facebook post on Sunday afternoon. Normally, the family keeps such grief out of the public eye. But the outpouring of sympathy from around the world has overwhelmed them.

As reported, Alexander Manninger was struck by a local train while in his minivan in Nußdorf on Thursday. Help arrived too late. The 48-year-old succumbed to his injuries at the scene of the accident. 

“You weren’t just my husband, you were my best friend”
Above all, Alex remains unforgettable to her as a father. In moving words, Emily writes: “Thank you for our two sons, Alexander and Nicolas. They are my heart and my soul.” And further: “You were the most incredible father to the boys; they adored you.”

Particularly touching: Emily recalls their life together in Salzburg—walks, boat trips to the lakes, paddleboarding, hiking, skiing, and family time in the mountains. “We had such a perfect life,” she notes. About their love, she writes: “You weren’t just my husband; you were my best friend.”

She also describes Alex as a person with great warmth: respectful, calm, loyal, smart, and open-minded. His death has “broken me as a person and our entire family.” Nevertheless, she wants to stay strong now—for her two sons.

In closing, Emily makes a heartbreaking plea to the public: “Please pray for my children.” Her final words to Alex are particularly moving: “Until we meet again: Thank you, Lexx. I will love you forever.”